French Provincial

I have a bit of an obsession with French Provincial pieces of furniture.... Okay, maybe its a BIG obsession.  It will be a sad day in the world when there are no more French pieces for me to scoop up and restore.  I posted in the post before this about the tiffany blue 9 drawer french provincial dresser I had up cycled, but I didn't stop there and since then, I have found and restored plenty more french pieces to satisfy anyone's interests for ideas.

Little miss french piggy went to the market:)

I wish I had the before picture of this dresser and the project pictures, but I was so preoccupied with restoring it that I didn't even think about documenting the restoration until I was putting the final handle on the dresser!  

This dresser started out with being a pee yellow color which was anything but appealing along with missing handles.  I picked it up for $100 at a local college student housing complex.  Once I got it home I began with a quick sanding with 220 grit, a wipe down with denatured alcohol, which works amazingly well to get all of the oils and excess gunk off of the piece.  I then went to our local True Value and picked up B-I-N Primer and Sealer in the spray can.  This was the first time I had used B-I-N and I could not believe how well the primer covered up in 1 coat!  I would recommend this stuff to anyone who is unsure what primer to use to guarantee a good base for your paint color.  The paint I used was Behr Ultra Premium in an eggshell sheen.  I always always use a polyurethane top coat or polycrylic top coat on all of my pieces for protection.  

**This is a personal preference (but highly supported by other painters).  

-Always use polycrylic clear coat on light colored furniture such as whites, creams, or anything that can show a yellow tint when you dont want it to.  The polycrylic will not yellow on your furniture after it is applied.  Polycrylic is also water-based so it is very easy to clean out your paint brush after applying it. 

-Polyurethane will yellow white and cream.  I only use polyurethane when I am spraying colored, moderate to dark pieces of furniture.  

I apply either/or brushed on or spray can clear coats.  I have had equal success with both.      

Locating a handle to replace the missing one was a cake walk.  I got online to etsy and found a seller out of Philadelphia who carried reproduced ones.  I only paid $6 for the replacement handle and it looked IDENTICAL to my other 8.  

*When spray painting handles*

Always clean handles with hot water and dish soap before coating them with any paint to guarantee a quality job.  I will always primer the handles with B-I-N primer and then apply a durable spray paint color over the primer.  I then will finish off the handle with a clear coat spray finish.  

I would love your opinions on your experiences with different primers/sealers.  Feel free to comment with anything you want to add to my blog posts.  I am always looking to learn more from the good and bad experiences of others.